NEW ORLEANS — After saying last week that women sometimes play a role in violence, Mayor LaToya Cantrell this week is calling for a swift, sweeping response to violence.
It amazes me that so many politicians can’t bring themselves to say, “I made a mistake. I’m sorry.” The latest example is Mayor LaToya Cantrell.
Last week, after several young women were murdered in New Orleans, Cantrell made a grossly insensitive — and inaccurate — statement that women, quote, “play a role” in some crimes. Did she really mean that, or did she just misspeak? Given the chance to clarify, Cantrell doubled down, saying the recent shootings were not random.
As New Orleans’ first woman mayor, Cantrell should know better than to blithely insult crime victims like that. The only “role” that women played in the recent killings was that of victim. The mayor owes them, and all women, a sincere apology.
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